Day 14

We are still on the potty training band wagon. We have got it down to no more then one pee acadent a day. We are still working on the poo. My son poops mostly in his diaper at night or during nap time. Nothing I can do about that really so I try not to think about it too much. I am really quite proud of him over all. I am asked quite often how I know when he has to pee. At first I said that I didn't know, I just took him and I think it did start out that way but now I am seeing that more and more he is telling me when he has to go and when he doesn't. He will grab his crotch, point at the cookie box, or just go and stand by the potty when he has to go. I am also seeing that he is holding it longer and does not want to go early. He will often hold it for an hour now. This is really great when we go shopping.

For those that wonder if I have an advanced child I would like to point out that I don't. I (of course) think he is just the cats meow but he is really very normal. He did not start walking until 14 months, the words he says are so garbled that only I can understand him, he does not use a fork or spoon, and he only does two signs so far (eat and more). So he is really just a normal little boy. I think that putting him in cloth diapers really helped with potty training later because he knows what it feels like to be wet and what causes it.

Day 8 Poo poo problems

My son has been mostly going poo in his diaper at nap time and at night so I really did not realize that he does not want to go poo in the potty! These last two days, we take him to the potty and he goes pee, then he gets down, goes behind something and poops! It is very frustrating. I also understand that is is very common too. I knew I could not get out of this whole experience without some issue. I am not sure yet what I am going to do but I think the only thing I can do is to be more vigilant and try to catch him before he poos and put him on the potty. Oh well, the potty training continues...

Day 6

Today was a real test. We took our son in nothing but undies to the fair. He did so well! Not one acadent. We used the new traval potty that goes on top of the big potty and took him every 45 minutes to an hour. One time we went in to the bathroom and a lady said to me "There is no changing table in there!" I said "Its ok, we don't need one". Yesterday he only had one accadnt and it was with the liquid poo so I can't really blame him. Someone sugested that he might be drinking too much juice. I cut out his juice altogether a few weeks ago because the doctor sujested that it could be the cuase of the sores on his bum from his poop. It worked really well (his bum is healed!) and I have not givin him juice since, so I know it is not that. I have decided that he needs more fiber. I give him whole wheat toast but he can't eat many raw fruits or veggies because he has no molers to chew with yet. We eat a lot of beans but he hates them and won't touch them.

So I should review what we have been doing. We put him on the potty every 45 minutes or so and sign potty to him. Sometimes he tells us he needs to go but most of the time he doesn't. We give him a cookie if he goes potty but we are starting to cut down on the cookies. If he does not ask for one, we don't bother anymore. We only use diapers for nap time and bed time. We put undies on him because if he peed without undies he would not even feel it (only my carpet would). He goes on little potties and the big potty but if he goes on a little potty we put it up on a chair so he has to stay there for at least a minute. At this point I am sure that we will not be going back to diapers. It is all just fine tuning from here on out. Yah!

Day 4

Potty training has been going a lot better then I thought it would. On Tue. we had no accidents at all and my son even pooped in the potty! We went to the lake and brought our smallest potty with us and he used it with out problems. On Wed. I thought that I should see if he will let me know when he needs to go. Needless to say there were more accidents that day. He does not always let me know so I need to keep track of that myself. I have decided that at this stage he just can't be expected to tell me when he needs to go every time. He does not really talk at all but he does sign a little bit. I have been using the sign for potty forever and he knows it but he will not do it back to us. He really does not like it when he wets himself. He looks at me and pokes his undies like he is saying "Look mommy! I'm all wet!" When he does wet himself I let him know that I am not happy but not mad either.

Today went really well. We had to go to an appointment and I was really worried that he would not use the potty when we went out. I don't want to drag our little potty with us everywhere. It is small but not small enough to fit in the diaper bag. So I went to Babies R Us and found the Potette Plus. I love this thing! Love, love, love it! I did not want to get the fold up seats because they do not last and they pinch sometimes. I used the Potette so that my son could sit on the potty at the office without me holding him. It worked like a charm! No sliding and it just folds up and fits in my diaper bag when I am done. Best $15 I have spent yet. It got great reviews from everything I have read. This really takes a load off of my mind. I was really worried about going places.

The only issue I still have is that sometimes my son had liquid poop. He just can't make it to the potty when this happens. I really do not blame him for this, when I have diarrhea, I can't always make it to the potty either! I don't know if this is normal or not. I guess I will have to ask his doctor.

Day 1

Today was the first day that I ditched the diapers and started getting serious about potty training my son. He did amazingly well for his first day. I set up the paint drop cloths and put away any toys that can not be washed or wiped down (like books) and set up a potty on both floors of our house. I made sure to get my son up almost the minute that he woke up so that I could catch his morning pee and possible poo. I got his pee no poo though. All the time he was awake, he was in undies.

Throughout the day I took him to the potty about every 30 minutes or so. I had bought an egg timer to help me remember to do this (and as a cue for my son) but the minute I took it out of the box it did not work. Oh well, I did fine without it. My son did really well, every time I put him on the potty he peed or at least tried. I can tell that he is trying because everything "down there" flexes. Then I gave him his cookie. I use animal crackers as a treat for going on the potty. It seems to be working very well. A few times today he went to the potty and opened the lid or pointed to the cookie box to tell me he had to go. I caught him going behind the coffee table to poo but he is a fast pooper so I was not in time to get him on the potty. I will have to be faster next time I guess. Over all we went through 6 pairs of undies. I really did not need the drop cloths so I am going to put them away tonight. Most of his accidents were really small, you could barely tell he was wet. Overall a very good first day.

Potty training

I am going to do it. On Monday I am going to start potty training my son. I know I sound crazy, talking about potty training a 17 month old. I know that stronger, smarter moms have struggled to do what I am about to try but try I must. In March 2010 I have another baby coming and if I don't at least try to potty train my son, I will be kicking myself for months. So on Monday I am going to put down paint drop cloths, get out the Spot Shot, set up potties on both floors of the house, and put my son in undies. I have always felt that going cold turkey is best for my son.

Just so everyone does not think I am a complete nut, here is my reasoning that my son is ready. First of all we have been putting him on the potty for months in between diaper changes and he understands what it is for and will go potty in it or at least try. Second he has started to pull off his diaper when it is wet and at night wakes up to be changed if he is too wet. Third of all I have been doing a lot of researched and have come across this statistic that in the 1950s 92% of all 18 month olds were potty trained. They attribute this to cloth diapers. My son has been in cloth since birth. My last reason is that I was potty trained at about 18 months and my sister in law potty trained all three of her sons before two so I know it can be done.

Part of me is dreading this change. Lets say that things go smoothly, now I will have to think about where the potty is when we go out and it will add a whole new dimension to traveling. Part of me is excited though. I have always enjoyed a challenge and I have always done things differently then other people especially when it comes to raising my child (cloth diapers, home birthing, Hypno-birthing and so on) so I am used to people thinking I am strange or that what I am attempting is a bit crazy. I plan on writing all about my potty training adventurers right here so that others can learn from my successes and failures.